


invited

by kintou



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Character Death, Recovery, Rewrite, sasuke has some recovering to do
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:13:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24928963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kintou/pseuds/kintou
Summary: When Itachi passes away Sasuke catches himself feeling completely lost. Enter Naruto, who Sasuke thought he'd forgotten, and who refuses to leave Sasuke alone until he's alright.A/N: This is a rewrite!
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 20
Kudos: 125





	invited

**Author's Note:**

> Invited was the first story I wrote when getting back into narusasu. It was written 1st person and I disliked the nsfw scenes. I do like the idea, but I didn't like reading it myself anymore, so here's the rewrite! I hope you guys will enjoy it! 
> 
> The 1st pov story is still here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19897471.

People were gathered in the big room, all facing the coffin. People he didn’t know, barely recognized. He never had taken the time to get to know anyone since they had moved cities. Itachi had known people from work, had certainly had a few friends, but eventually it came down to the fact his brother would spend too much time taking care of him. Even as he grew older, got a job and started living on his own, Itachi had felt like he couldn’t let go. They’d always focussed on each other.

Maybe Itachi had had a lover, who was now weeping in the front row. He wouldn’t recognize them. He wouldn’t be able to comfort them, or the other way around. Maybe Itachi’s group of friends was calming each other lovingly. He must have had colleagues, who respected him endlessly. Itachi was like that. 

And that’s exactly why Sasuke didn’t face the room properly. Why, when he walked up to that stage to talk, he looked at the ground. He didn’t want to meet these people now; they had nothing in common anymore. He felt like he had nothing in common with this entire city, every single face in it. It was a cold place. So damn cold. 

‘Thank you all for being here-’ He hated this. Who the hell was he speaking for? Why couldn’t he just say goodbye by himself? He was so fucking done with saying goodbye. ‘My brother was a hardworking man. He became just that when I was still very little, and he was just a child, when our parents passed away-’ cold, cold, cold, his voice was so cold. The whole thing had been said and thought a thousand times. He was becoming colder than he had ever been before. ‘I remember our parents, but when I think of coming ho-’ shit. _Stop Sasuke. Just stop._ ‘When I think of a home, I can’t- uh- I just-’ His eyes started burning. Shit. He was supposed to be cold. He was supposed to have seen this thing coming. He should be fucking used to this by now. ‘Whe-’ _Don’t even try._ His breath got staggered. His throat thick. A single tear slid from his eyes and he, even in a moment like this, felt ashamed for it. He mumbled: ‘Shit, ex- excuse-’ and then he walked off that stage.

Small steps, but god damn fast. He breathed in sharply. Every person in that room must have been thinking the same thing: ‘Uchiha’s little brother is such a poor soul’, not knowing a single goddamn thing about them. So Sasuke kept on walking, with the intention to come back; to make sure everything went smoothly, yes, but also to get away for a while. On his way out he pushed away his tears with the back of his hand and then got a bent cigarette out of his pocket. He fumbled, straightened the cigarette just to keep his hands busy, until he found the main entrance. It was a modern, black entrance. It had him wondering why he chose this damn funeral home in the first place. It was terrible. It was cold. He didn’t know why he hadn’t seen it before.

  
He leaned against the outside wall. Struggled with his old lighter. It’s flame disappeared about eight times before a proper flame came out. Everything was imperfect. Now he had never been a perfect Uchiha, but the shit show he had always been was really starting to show now. 

He looked at his feet, neatly covered by black leather shoes. 

Behind me he heard footsteps, ignored them. 

‘Sasuke,’ the person who those footsteps belonged to said. He didn’t recognize that voice, didn’t know how that happened. He should have recognized his footsteps, his aura, his smell, his entire fucking being. Instead he stared at the ground and breathed in his smoke. 

‘I’m fine,’ he mumbled. 

The person took the cigarette out of his hand and threw it towards the street. He followed the cigarette with his eyes, watched it fall, then he turned to the person next to him. 

His heartbeat sped up at the sight of the other. The other’s skin was tanned, he had gotten tall and broad. He was smiling softly, but seriously. Sasuke fucking hated that look of pity, but the other wore it well. His hair was quite a bit shorter but blonde- still very blonde. His mouth moved slow while talking, completely different from how it used to move. ‘You’re not fine,’ he said sternly. ‘Why the fuck would you even expect yourself to be?’ 

‘Naruto..’ he couldn’t look at the blonde ‘What are you doing here?’ 

He tried to fetch another cigarette from his pocket. Naruto glared at him, stopped him with one look. He let the cigarette be. _Later,_ he thought. When Naruto was sure that he wasn’t going to put anything to smoke between his lips he finally answered. ‘I was invited.’ 

‘No one knows you here. How did you know–’ 

‘Itachi-’ The name hurt. It still did, and it would for a while. ‘He made sure one of his friends invited me. I don’t exactly remember what his name was– ehm–’ 

‘Why the hell would he do that?’ 

Naruto seemed shocked by that question, or maybe by Sasuke’s roughness. Within a second he covered that look with a small smile. Of course he fucking did. ‘Maybe because I’ve known you two for a very long time. His job wasn’t exactly the safest, I bet he was always afraid that this– that he'd pass away.’ Naruto awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, looking at him carefully. He was taking every bit of him in. 

‘So what he does is make sure you’ll come to his fucking funeral? That’s bullshit.’ 

‘I don’t think that’s what he was trying to do. Well– it’s not about me being here.’ He looked at Naruto, then back at his own hands. Naruto’s presence made him nervous, made him feel safe at the same time. It was tearing him apart. ‘I think,’ Naruto continued, ‘that he wanted to make sure you had someone.’ 

Now he glared up. Naruto, surprisingly, didn’t seem surprised or intimidated in the slightest. _Still used to that, hm._ ‘I don’t think you know us well enough to just think something like that.’ He picked the cigarette out of his pocket and put it in between his lips. Slowly he started trying to get that damn lighter on again. It didn’t help that the thing didn’t work; being so obviously frustrated didn’t help.. He took the cigarette from his lips, aggressively pointed it at Naruto. ‘And besides– I can take care of my fucking self. I don’t need an overgrown babysitter or whoever the fuck you might be.’ 

‘I’m not a damn babysitter, Sasuke, you know why the hell I’m here.’ 

‘Then why the hell are you here, Naruto? Because the last time we saw each other– You know what, fuck this.’ He tried to get the lighter on again. This time a small flame came out. He lit the cigarette deeply and breathed in.

‘I’m someone who cares, Sasuke. A lot.’ His voice was soft now, and warm, so damn warm. He would have rather had Naruto yell at him. Just to fight once again. Just to let his fucking anger out for once. Naruto wouldn’t allow that to happen again; he knew that too. Naruto radiated calm, now. ‘You might not know it, but I know that Itachi did. So if you won’t let me stay for me, do it for him.’ 

He looked at his feet again. Back to staring, ignoring him. Back to pretending he was alright. Slowly, Naruto came closer, taking the cigarette from his lips and then carefully wrapping his arms around his shoulders. Naruto placed his hand against his neck, and pulled him in slowly. ‘You know it’s alright to cry, right? It’s not weak or anything like that.’ 

‘Shut the fuck up.’ 

‘Nah- that’s not my style.’ Naruto chuckled into his hair, made his insides turn nervously. The blonde was the same. The exact same he had been when him and Itachi had left their old place to get to this new, cold one. Naruto’s strength, his happiness, it was all the same. Only now he was calm. That was scary. ‘It’s okay.. Sasuke.’ 

‘Let go of me.’ 

‘No.. not yet.’ 

He let himself lean on his old friend. Got a little closer. Naruto was so fucking warm. ‘It’s been a long time, Naruto.’ 

‘Yeah.. I know.’ 

‘Sasuke, I wish you the best of luck. Your brother would have been so proud.’ He internally rolled his eyes at all the fake words. The last few people walked out of the funeral home, chatting about the coffee or the location, and probably how _good_ it had been to say goodbye. He sighed, sat down on the nearest chair and let his head fall into his hands. He wanted to sleep, to just sleep and think about nothing in particular. He hadn’t slept well in months. Maybe he hadn’t slept well since he moved away from their hometown, but hadn’t he realized it until now. It was all so long ago. He hadn’t noticed how much it had fucked him up. Or maybe he’d ignored it. 

‘I got you coffee! You drink it black right? That didn’t change or–’ 

‘Go home, Naruto.’ 

‘Yeah, uh, no. So, black coffee?’

‘What the hell do you think?’ 

‘Alright. Black it is.’ Naruto put the coffee on the table in front of him. He had gotten himself cappuccino with sugar. Sasuke frowned at the sweet cup, then slowly reached out to take his own cup. ‘So,’ Naruto started. ‘I just talked to the people working here. They said that everything is taken care of if we take the USB-stick and take the last flowers home.’ 

‘Why?’ 

‘Why? Because they don’t want your USB-stick, Sasuke.’ He rolled his eyes. Naruto knew damn well what he meant. ‘I’m actually pretty sure they have their own USB-sticks, just in case. These things must go wrong quite a lot.’ Not planning on answering any further than that Naruto stood up and walked towards the stage to get the USB-stick. He put it in his pocket, looked at all the flowers. ‘What about those?’ 

‘I don’t want them,’ Sasuke answered. 

‘A little green in the house might be nice.’ 

‘They’ll just make a mess and die. I don’t need them.’ He got up and picked up his bag. Naruto followed behind him. ‘And how long do you plan on staying?’ 

‘I was planning on driving you home.’ 

‘I came by car, too bad.’ 

‘Good. I took the train.’ 

The drive towards his apartment was silent. Naruto, bad at handling silences, had turned up the radio a little bit. They had nothing to say, nothing to talk about, still the silence didn’t feel heavy. Naruto hummed, sometimes. He doubted Naruto actually knew the songs the radio was playing; he just liked making noise. His body felt weak. In the safety of his own car his body suddenly felt heavy. His vision kept getting blurry. It had gotten late, without him noticing it. A dark hue was slowly taking over the sky; he watched it just so that he didn’t have to look at Naruto. Naruto drove slowly. He had expected him to be reckless, dangerous, but right he was nothing but calm and warm. He had known that Naruto had that in him. When he fell in love with him, years and years ago, he had felt that. That that warmth was slowly taking over his iciness. That he balanced Sasuke out. That Naruto cared; cared more, deeper and more intensely than anyone had ever done. That feeling had been overwhelming from day one. Still Naruto didn’t notice a thing about how he felt. Sasuke hadn’t been able to deal with it, back then. Now he listened to Naruto hum, and felt his carefulness. Friends. Like brothers. That’s what he had said. Sasuke wondered if he’d been able to handle it better now. Naruto was grown now, and he’d grown up to be beautiful. 

Warm and soft. In the background there was soft music he didn’t recognize playing. He opened his eyes slowly, they were hurting. He was laying underneath a thick comforter. His own, he realised; it had just never felt this warm. He sat up slowly, looking at his hands with thick, watery eyes. Had he always been this thin? Probably. These were just his own hands. Just his own room. Just his body. There was a stream of bright sunlight coming through the curtains. They hadn’t been closed properly. 

Someone was moving around in his kitchen. There was the sound of pans, the sound of his empty cabinets closing. He stood up, his back cracking in the progress, and walked out of his bedroom. He was greeted by the most amazing bright smile. 

‘Good morning, Sasuke.’ 

‘So now you’re breaking into my apartment?’ 

‘Barely, you passed out and I brought you in.’ Oh. That was weak of him. How could it be that he was depending on Naruto this much already? He had tried not to depend on anyone. Hell he hadn’t trusted anyone but Itachi in his life. Yet here he was again, completely fucking swept away by the bright idiot. ‘Which was probably very good for you, by the way! Seems like you needed it. You look better.’ 

He looked down, felt blood rush to his face. He’d really have to stop that. ‘I look unhealthy.’ 

‘A little.’ Naruto mumbled, shifting awkwardly. ‘Doesn’t mean you don’t look good. Maybe you should just- eh- eat?’ 

‘Seems like you are wrecking the kitchen anyway, so sure.’ 

‘Wanted to make some ramen. I hope you don’t mind, but I went to the sven eleven on the corner of your street. There was literally nothing in your fridge.’ 

‘It has to be bad if you, of all people, think my eating habits are terrible.’ 

Naruto laughed lightly. _Shit._ Shit, he was being too friendly. What the hell was he doing, joking around with Naruto like that? He needed Naruto to leave. What the hell was he joking around for right after Itachi died? 

‘What have you been eating?’ Naruto asked without a hint of embarrassment. 

‘Out. I’ve been eating out, or ordering.’ I sat down on the couch, looking at how Naruto started the stove, and got himself some water. Looking at Naruto made him realise how grey and simple his apartment was, how uncomfortable his chairs were, how long it had been until someone had sat on his big couch with him. 

‘Even though you know that the secret ingredient to make food good is always love?’ 

‘Shut up. Stop being cheesy or go home.’

Naruto grinned again. He didn’t realise, not when he had said it, that that meant that Naruto could stay. Even if it was just a bit longer. 

They ate together on the couch. Naruto had put on some music, some slow hip-hop Sasuke knew nothing about. He let a peaceful gif play on the television. It wasn’t much, not the distraction he would have wantned, but it was enough to look at when Naruto’s piercing blue eyes stared at him for too long. When he asked: ‘How have you been, Sasuke?’ 

‘I’ve been.. you know, working.’ 

`Is that it? Just working? You’re always just working.’ Naruto mumbled. 

‘And you’re always making more friends you don’t need. What the hell is your point?’ 

Naruto fell into silence, looking at the television too. He probably thought about what he wanted to answer. That was Naruto for you, he couldn’t just ignore it or fight about it. He had to solve it. Sasuke hated that; he wished Naruto would just yell at him already. ‘I’m here now, though, and it’s not for the sake of new friends.’ 

‘I guess.’ There it was again. Friends. That word from Naruto's mouth would be the end of him, one day. He wanted to say that he didn’t care for the old friendship. That if Naruto wanted this friendship again, he could grab his stuff and leave. 

But the truth was that he had missed the friendship. The friendship wasn’t all he wanted, it had never been all he wanted, but it was a good one. He cared about Naruto. Wanting more just.. it hurted so much. 

That was the danger zone. 

‘I might start working tomorrow,’ he said. To make clear that Naruto would have to leave by then. To give Naruto a deadline, to tell him; _I’ll be fine._

‘Take some time off.’

‘No.’ 

Naruto put his now empty bowl down. ‘Take some fucking time off, Sasuke. Everyone will understand.’ 

‘I’m not working for them. I have to g-’ 

‘Who are you working for then? For yourself? Stop being a little bitch, Sasuke. It’ll be unhealthy as fuck to start working again right now. Why are you like this?’ 

‘You don’t fucking know me.’

‘I think we both know that’s a lie.’ It was. It wasn’t. He wanted Naruto to hold him. He was ashamed for it. He wanted to fucking break something, himself, his lifestyle, whatever. He was afraid because of it. ‘Why are you mad at me? Why didn’t you contact me all this time? Do you fucking know how much I thought about you when you were gone, how bad I wanted to see you again?’ 

He put his bowl down, looked at the gif playing on the television. ‘I thought it would be better to keep my distance from you.’

‘Why?’ 

‘If it was that easy I would have told you in the first place.’ 

‘But–’ 

‘No, Naruto. It’s not that easy, don’t try to make it.’ 

‘Alright. Then don’t tell me, but stay home.’ He turned to Sasuke and stared at him intensely. Sasuke couldn’t fucking look away from those deep blue eyes. ‘For a few days, just rest.’ 

‘What the hell are you going to do with all these tomatoes?’ Naruto asked. 

‘None of your business.’

Naruto rolled his eyes, laughed and put the small tomatoes into their shopping cart. ‘Well, I did say we’d fill your fridge the way you wanted to.’

‘Tomatoes don’t go into the fridge, you damn barbarian.’ 

‘I knew that.’ 

‘No you did no–’ 

‘Holyshit!’ Naruto interrupted him. He followed Naruto’s eyes. Next to the vegetable aisle there were plants. Basil, mint, and a damn tomato plant. ‘Sasuke! This is the best thing ever.’ 

‘No.’ 

‘But it’s a tomato plant.’ 

‘No. No plants.’ 

‘You don’t get a say. I’ll take care of them.’ Naruto picked up two tomato plants and a basil plant. ‘And don’t act like I don’t know that you’re going to eat these tomatoes with basil and mozzarella, I might only eat ramen but I know you.’ He rolled his eyes, couldn’t help but smirk at the idiot. ‘Ha! You didn’t even deny it.’ Naruto picked up the basil plant. ‘Let’s get some mozzarella and ramen then.’

‘We need more than mozzarella and ramen.’

‘That’s the spirit! You want to push the shopping cart now?’ 

‘No.’ 

‘I’ll sit in the child seat and then–’ 

‘No.’ 

Naruto climbed into the shopping cart anyway, a big grin on his face. 

‘I hate you,’ Sasuke sighed.

Naruto laughed brightly. He was beautiful like that. _Fuck._ ‘Shut up! You love me.’ 

‘I’m going to leave you in that cart for the rest of your life.’ 

‘Okay, the shop closes in like three hours.’ The idiot was sitting down in the cart, holding the tomatoes so that they wouldn’t get crushed. ‘Push me, Sasuke.’ 

He turned around and started walking away, a hidden smirk on his face. 

‘Don’t leave me, Sasuke!’ He kept walking, towards the cheese. Naruto was laughing loudly, unmoved. ‘Don’t leave your tomatoes, Sasuke!’ 

Sasuke turned, raising an eyebrow.

Naruto opened his mouth, jokingly shocked. ‘So you’d leave me, but not the tomatoes? I know how it is now.’ 

‘Tomatoes don’t talk as much, which is a preference of mine,’ He said, shrugging cockily while walking back towards the cart. 

Naruto laughed and jumped out of the cart again. ‘So ramen?’ 

Slowly the house was getting brighter. Naruto said he had nothing important to do at home. Once in a while he’d open his laptop to work, or he’d get a call. And so he kept on opening the curtains in the morning, kept on buying new plants, he kept on listening to music wherever he went. Naruto slept on the couch and never complained about it, said the couch was more comfortable than his own bed. He was slowly driving Sasuke crazy by being around. Naruto was everything he needed, but also everything I had tried to get away from; everything he couldn’t have. 

They ate together on the couch. Naruto kept laughing about a show and Sasuke couldn’t help but stare at him. Naruto was so damn bright, he enjoyed things easily, to their fullest. He carelessly laughed about a show, or excitedly complimented the food he had made. That made Sasuke’s heart implode. It was crazy; all Naruto did was close his eyes and moan an: ‘This is amazing.’ That was all he could handle.

After dinner Naruto came to sit a bit closed, and focussed on the show. He put his legs against Sasuke’s, acted like it was nothing much.

Another laugh. Something funny. He’d missed it. 

He too, tried to focus on the show. Pretended to know enough to follow what was happening. His mind wouldn’t let him, as much as he stared at the screen. The touch of Naruto’s leg against his was heavy. His head felt heavy too, he leaned it against the couch. Naruto chuckled, his breath radiated through Sasuke’s body. He wanted to hear Naruto’s soft laugh. He wished– he wished he could hear that laugh for the rest of his days, and at that thought, his world became dark. 

Right in front of him, Itachi from his younger years. From his earliest memories. Itachi’s eyes were closed tightly, still he talked. Sasuke couldn’t hear him, so he asked, yelled, what he was saying. His voice was as silent as his brother’s. Around him there was the sound of crows, thousands of crows yelling as if they’d found their prey. A few landed on Itachi’s shoulder. They pecked Itachi’s body, ate his flesh piece by piece. Itachi didn’t do anything about it; he just kept standing there with his eyes closed. He tried to yell his brother’s name. He thought of his name as loud as he possibly could. _Itachi._ Itachi– stop– but there was just the sound of crows. Loud.- ‘Sasuke!’ The crows went silent. He tried to yell back. A voice, a human voice was calling for him. He breathed in. He had to– The crows turned to him, spread their wings, flew right at him and– ‘Sasuke!’ 

‘Ah- Fuck-’ He shot up. His body was warm, burning. He could feel his neck and forehead sweating. He breathed in sharply. A hand carefully found his cheek. ‘Fuck.. _fuck_.’ 

‘Sasuke,’ the voice was softer now. ‘Are you okay?’ 

There were blankets laying on top of him, while he was still laying on the couch. He slowly looked up at Naruto, who was looking back desperately. Worried. 

Sasuke breathed out again. Naruto had gotten him out of that place. Thank fucking god, Naruto had. 

‘Sasuke?’ 

He brought his hand up to Naruto’s, held his hand in place. His own body was shivering. No matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t calm down. 

Naruto swallowed nervously. ‘You don’t look so good. Let me just–’ he tried to pull his hand back. 

Before realizing what he was doing, he was holding Naruto’s hand to his face steadily. ‘Stay,’ he said hoarsely. 

‘What?’ 

‘Don’t fucking leave. Not you too.’ This only made Naruto look more worried; still he slowly nodded. ‘Itachi he– he–’ he stopped talking. Looked down. He didn’t know how to explain it. Naruto stroked his cheek, towards his hairline. The room was silent. Naruto looked like he was trying to understand what Sasuke was saying; even if it was barely a sentence. 

Then, very carefully, Naruto laid down behind him on the couch. He didn’t ask if it was alright this time. Still he was careful. So carefully that Sasuke couldn’t help but remember the times he’d told Naruto to _fuck off_ or all the times he’d left. He remembered the days not long before he left, when he was so confused by his own feelings that he’d told Naruto to _get out of his life._ At the time he hadn’t thought Naruto had taken it seriously in the slightest; Naruto usually saw through his bullshit. The carefulness Naruto held right now, made him doubt it. 

‘Naruto... Stay.’

‘I will.’ 

‘Don’t let them get to me.’ 

Naruto, of course, had no idea what he was talking about. That was fear talking. Or maybe it was his sleep talking. Still Naruto put an arm around him, pulled him to his chest, and buried his nose into his neck. 

Then he whispered: ‘You know that I won’t.’ 

That was enough. He knew that that was so damn true. Sasuke felt tired of fighting him. He was tired of fighting his own feelings. He was definitely too tired not to sleep. 

When he woke up Naruto was still holding onto him. Their legs were entangled. He could feel the soft fabric of Naruto’s sweatpants against his ankles. He was laying underneath the blankets cozily, but, quite obviously, Naruto wasn’t. Carefully, just so that he wouldn’t wake the other, he tried to pull on the blankets so that Naruto was being covered by them as well. He didn’t want to deal with Naruto waking up just yet. He just wanted to stay like this for another moment. 

The warmth that Naruto radiated made getting up feel like the worst option. He stared at the window. There was soft rain tapping against it. The sky was dark, because of that it was hard to guess what time it was. The sound of the rain, combined with Naruto’s slow and heavy breathing, made him feel calm. It took him a few minutes to realize what that calm feeling was, exactly; it was him feeling at home. He’d never felt like that in his own house, and he felt quite overwhelmed by it. Slowly, he grabbed Naruto’s hand; just because he could still play it off as being sleepy. He held Naruto’s fingers in between his, and breathed out. 

Naruto, after a short while, let out some noises. He yawned obnoxiously, his warm breath hitting Sasuke’s ear. It sent shivers through his entire body. Against him, he felt the other slowly waking up. He waited for Naruto to back off, to wonder how the hell he had gotten here, to jump off that couch nervously. He at least expected him to start joking about something stupid.

Naruto just snuggled a little closer. 

Sasuke stayed quiet. 

‘How are you feeling?’ Naruto asked carefully. His strong arms still around his waist, their fingers still touching.

‘Better,’ Sasuke answered truthfully. 

‘That’s good.’ His voice was low, breathily. It did things to him. 

‘Maybe I should always sleep on the couch from now on.’ 

Naruto chuckled. ‘I don’t think it was the couch that did the trick.’ 

‘I don’t know what else could have.’

He had expected Naruto to push him away at that. Instead, he laughed brightly and pulled him in tightly. ‘You’re so mean to me.’ 

‘That’s my thing.’ 

He laughed. ‘I don’t know. I think you can be pretty sweet.’ 

‘ _Right._ ’ 

‘I think... you actually kind of like me,’ Naruto said it jokingly. He probably wasn’t. 

‘Keep on dreaming.’ Slowly he slipped away from Naruto’s arms and put his feet to the ground. The cold floor felt nice against his warm feet. 

Naruto stared at how he got up, walked towards the kitchen. ‘ I hate to see you go but I love to watch you leave,’ he joked. 

Sasuke rolled his eyes, still he couldn’t help but feel cold compared to how it had felt wrapped up with Naruto. _Stupid._ He told himself. _Stupid, stupid,_ he was letting his old feeling settle into his heart so easily. This was not the time. Itachi– Sasuke had other things to think about, he– He didn’t know anymore. Didn’t know what he wanted. 

‘Shut up, idiot.’ 

He took out the coffee, put it in a filter and boiled some water. Naruto watched his every step sleepily. When the water was boiling he slowly poured it on top of the filter; he watched every bit of water sipple into the pot. Just so that he wouldn’t have to look at Naruto.

Naruto had gotten up as well, though. He took the small blanket with him, pulled it around his own shoulder. He tried to focus on the coffee again, tried not to think about Naruto walking into his kitchen without a care in the world. 

But then Naruto put his arms around him so that the blanket now covered his shoulders too. He softly leaned his chest against his back, put his forehead against his neck. 

‘What the hell are you doing?’ His heart was beating so damn loud in his chest. 

‘Embracing you.’ 

‘Why?’ 

‘You had goosebumps, I thought I’d warm you.’ 

‘This is weird, Naruto.’ 

‘Why? We just slept together.’ 

‘And, you just made it even weirder. Congratulations.’ 

‘Ha, I admit that that sounded weird.’ Still, Naruto kept on holding on to him. He stood still, waited for Naruto to say something to make this into a joke, to let go. Naruto casually piped up again: ‘So are you making coffee or what?’ 

‘I was doing that before you felt the need to hug me.’ 

Naruto chuckled, pulled him in a little closer. ‘Before you telephated that you really wanted a hug, you mean.’ 

‘Oh my fucking god, go away.’ He pushed Naruto off him.

Naruto just laughed about it, loudly, his cheeks a little pink because of it. He did let go, wandered through the kitchen for a while. ‘Can I at least help you with breakfast?’ 

That afternoon they went to Itachi’s place to clear out the apartment. Sasuke had hired a company, Naruto insisted that they checked the apartment before they came; to make sure nothing important was taken. There wasn’t much Sasuke wanted or needed; he wanted to forget all about it. 

They searched through the house. Naruto went upstairs after he insisted that, no, he didn’t mind Naruto touching important stuff. Naruto had grown up too, and Sasuke trusted him. He walked through the kitchen. Itachi’s apartment was empty, big, with a lot of black and red. But somehow it was cozy. There were plants standing in every corner, the curtains were wide open, there was a big record player with rare jazz classics. Things that were completely his. Itachi had managed to make this a home. 

‘Sasuke?’ Naruto called from upstairs. He didn’t bother answering; Naruto was already running down the stairs. ‘I found something.. you know, that might be special.’ 

Sasuke turned around, watched as Naruto stepped closer carefully. ‘What is it?’ 

He was holding something out. A necklace, Sasuke realized. He tried to focus on the dangling silver. An Uchiha symbol was hanging from Sasuke’s hand. It wasn’t Itachi’s, he’d been wearing his. It was a slimmer, more charming one. 

His mum’s, he realized. 

‘Is it important?’ 

‘Hm.. yeah.’ He took his own necklace from underneath his shirt, so that Naruto could see it. ‘You two have matching ones?’ 

‘No– Itachi was wearing his when– you know– I made sure of it. This one is my mum’s.’ 

Naruto looked at the necklace in his hand, as if it had suddenly gotten heavier. ‘ _Shit_ ,’ he simply said. _Shit_ was definitely right. 

Naruto took his hand, softly opened it and put the necklace inside. When he had done so, he kept on holding his hand. He was staring at his eyes intensely, apparently not planning on letting go. ‘Sasuke, are you okay?’ 

He looked down at their hands.

Was he, _really?_

He had lost everyone he had ever loved. 

He had lost the place he had once loved. 

He’d lost his parents and Itachi and he’d fucking pushed Naruto away like he was worthless. That had been on him– but– _fuck._

‘Sasuke?’ Naruto whispered. ‘Hey… It’s going to be fine. I’ll always be there for you.’ _Fuck._ The idiot really knew how to push his fucking buttons. He fidgeted with the necklace nervously. ‘Wait, let me just–’ Naruto took the necklace out of his hands. He clumsily opened the lock, eventually got it. Then he pulled the necklace around his neck, closed the lock again, carefully. Naruto stared at him, then. At first he just stared at his neck, but then he started glancing at his mouth, eyes, back to his neck.

‘Beautiful,’ Naruto whispered, as if he was out of breath. 

Sasuke felt as if his breath was stolen from him. Naruto looked into his eyes, waiting for something. The blue eyes were bright and big; the idiot really meant it. 

‘So, uhm...’ Naruto kept his fingers against his neck, softly. The touch drove him insane. ‘You know you can always be honest with me, right? If I can do anything, or if there’s anything you want to talk abou–’ That was it. 

That was fucking _it._

He grabbed the back of Naruto’s neck recklessly and pulled him in. He pushed his lips onto Naruto’s. He did so roughly, pulling Naruto’s hair and forcing his lips open. Naruto moved with him, though. He opened his mouth, held his cheek and tried to slow the kiss down. Sasuke just pushed further, held Naruto tightly and then–

Naruto pulled back. His hand against Sasuke’s chest. He was breathing heavily, bit his lip looking troubled as hell. ‘Sasuke, calm down.’ 

‘Fuck– I’m–’ _he was so fucking stupid._ ‘Shit. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what–’ He pulled back some more, tried to push Naruto away. _He fucked everything up again._ ‘I’m going to–’ 

‘No.’ Naruto held on to him by his hand, just so that he couldn’t leave. ‘Don’t let go, please. Talk to me.’ He sounded so vulnerable. 

‘Hm.’ 

‘Are you okay, Sasuke?’ There was a deep frown between his eyebrows. _Fucking hell._ He did that, he put that frown there. 

‘I’m so sorry,’ he whispered. 

‘Don’t be. It’s okay.’ 

‘But I- I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.’

‘Fuck, Sasuke, I don’t mind that you kissed me. That shit felt amazing. I just need to know if you’re okay. It’s… are you alright?’ 

_Be honest with him,_ he told himself. That’s the only damn thing that could make me worthy, even if it was just a little. ‘No. I– I don’t fucking know what I’m feeling anymore. I just need– I don’t know.’ 

Naruto bit his lip. ‘What do you need… Did I– do I confuse you?’ 

He looked up, wide eyed. _That wasn’t what he had meant._ ‘You’re one of the few things I’m not confused about.’ He answered, truthfully.

_Shit._

‘What do you mea-‘

‘I’m not confused, about how I feel about you.’ He met Naruto’s eyes fiercely. Naruto looked nothing but confused. ‘I’m confused about where I should go next. I’m lonely because the most important person in my life passed away. I fucking hate this place and all the people who live here.’ He breathed in. ‘But you– I know you. Always have.’ 

Naruto breathed in, and then softly said: ‘But you just kissed me.’ 

‘Yeah.’ he felt confident about it too, now. Naruto had said it had felt _amazing_. ‘Yeah. I did.’ 

‘I– do you– want to… kiss me again?’ 

Sasuke smiled lightly, that made Naruto grin brightly. ‘I want you to kiss me.’ He answered. _Damn it all._ He was going to take what he wanted to. He wasn’t going to sit around waiting; he deserved good things. ‘I’ve wanted you to kiss me all week.’ 

Naruto grinned at that, so fucking _fucking_ brightly. He set Sasuke’s heart on fire. ‘I want that too.’ Naruto answered, and with that he stepped in. 

He kissed Sasuke’s lips softly. Brushed their lips together and let his hands caress Sasuke’s black locks. Sasuke felt warm, safe, because of it. _Everything was going to be okay._

At that, Sasuke realized that Itachi, in his last moments, had been right. Inviting Naruto had been his last move to prove _he knew what was right for Sasuke._

A soft smile made his way to his lips. That was okay, Naruto was grinning into the kiss the whole time, unsurprisingly. 

‘I think that we checked everywhere so– what are you doing?’ He suddenly regretted telling Naruto he could take everything he needed; Naruto was loading ten plants into the car. 

‘If we don’t take them they’ll die.’ 

‘I’ll let them die as well.’ 

Naruto put the plants in the back of the car, some kind of blanket in between the pots. ‘I’ll take care of them. It’ll be fine.’ 

‘We just bought plants.’ 

‘That tomato plants? Come on, that's nothing. We can get some more. It’s important to have plants. They give off good vibes.’ 

‘I don’t know if it works like that.’ 

‘It kind of does. Get your ass in the car.’ 

‘Let me drive.’ 

‘And possibly harm my new children? No thank you.’ 

He chuckled, got into the passenger seat next to Naruto. He didn’t mind sitting next to Naruto as he drove. Naruto drove calmly, on top of that he had nice arms; it was kind of sexy. 

Naruto put on some classic rock, nodded his head to the music. He watched the other, a soft calm washed over me. He watched the trees passing by, and listened to Naruto’s terrible singing. In the back of the car there were plants, a lot of them, and around his neck hung his mother's necklace. Those were new things. The peace was, the happiness, the plants, the fact that he was allowed to fucking kiss Naruto now.

He’d deal with all that change later. He was tired. Naruto would deal with it for now; he let him take the lead.

That night they slept on the couch again. Naruto played games while he read a book. He was resting his head on Naruto’s lap, Naruto was fondling his hair. It was quiet, soft. The only thing filling the room was the smell of their warm drinks and the Animal Crossing music coming from Naruto’s console. 

After a while, Naruto placed his lips onto the top of his head. ‘Sasuke.. Do you feel up for, eh, talking?’ 

He put his book down a little. ‘I guess.’ 

‘I was wondering.. what do you want to do? Do you want me to stay, for a while longer?’ 

Sasuke closed his eyes, breathed out. ‘If you have to go, you should.’ 

Naruto caressed his cheek sweetly, breathed out. ‘I have to leave soon, for work. I kind of miss home too. I just– You’re always welcome, I want you to know that. And if you want me to come here, I’ll come here right away. I–’ Naruto waited for a second, as if he was thinking about it. ‘I really want to date you, properly.’ 

Sasuke got up, looked at Naruto. The other seemed shy, happy about it. Sasuke’s heart was beating in his forehead. 

‘I want to stay by your side. I don’t care what I have to do.’ 

_He hadn’t expected that._

Naruto was getting even more nervous. He fidgeted, waiting for Sasuke to answer. Sasuke looked for the right words, for words that made sense. 

‘Think about it, alright? Think about what you want. Whatever you do, I’ll be there.’ 

‘It will be hard to travel.’ Sasuke mumbled, even though that wasn’t what he wanted to say. He didn’t give a fuck _how_ he would have Naruto. He wanted the other. He had never wanted anyone else. 

Naruto wrapped his fingers around his. Sasuke’s hands were so white compared to his, he focussed on that.

‘I don’t care,’ Naruto said.

‘ _Oh,’_ He answered. He sounded stupid for it. 

‘What?’ 

‘I–’ _Fucking hell. ‘_ I want to date.’ 

Naruto grinned, pulled Sasuke in to kiss his lips. He let himself lay against Naruto. Naruto placed small kissed all over Sasuke’s face. ‘I like you,’ Naruto whispered against his tempel.

‘You always said our friendship was unbreakable. That you would always be my friend,’ Sasuke said, carefully. He didn’t want to _blame_ Naruto, but it had hurt. 

‘It is. I will be but– I’m sorry. I… I didn’t know I liked you, back then.’ 

With that Naruto kissed him again. Carefully he slid his hand underneath his shirt, pushed it up, stroked his hip. Sasuke stared into his eyes, trying to figure out what was going on in his head. 

‘You’re still my best friend, first and foremost.. Which, anyway, is kind of important if we’re going to do this thing.’ 

_If we’re going to do this thing._

He stared at Naruto, who was staring at his hands on Sasuke’s stomach as if it held the answers to the universe. Sasuke sighed softly, Naruto slid his hands down to his hips at the sound. 

_Doing this thing._ He had never expected Naruto to be the one asking if they would. Actually, he had never expected it to happen at all. Not only had he not been planning on ever telling Naruto he was in love with him, a week ago he had thought that he would never see Naruto again. 

_Seeing the straight man who wanted to stay best friends would only hurt him,_ that’s what he had thought. But now that “straight best friend” was on top of him, looking shy and asking if he wanted him too. 

_Fucking hell._ He did. 

He didn’t want anything more than that.

He swallowed, looked into Naruto’s eyes fiercely. ‘We’re going to do this thing.’ 

Naruto grinned so damn brightly about it. Breathlessly, he asked: ‘Yeah?’ 

‘Fuck yeah,’ Sasuke answered, pushing his lips on Naruto’s. Naruto snuggled their noses together, then pulled away and kissed to kiss his neck. ‘Ah, fuck.’ he breathed out. Naruto licked towards his earlobe, smiling happily.

‘You like that?’ Naruto asked softly. 

Sasuke pulled him back by his hair, climbed onto Naruto’s lap with a smirk on his face. Naruto watched him carefully, his eyes lust blown. Sasuke grinded his hips forward, against Naruto’s. Then he smiled. ‘You like that?’ He shot back at Naruto. 

‘Cocky bastard,’ Naruto chuckled. 

‘Shut up and kiss me.’ 

There was no need to ask Naruto twice. He pushed his hips forward and kissed him deeply. Sasuke moaned out as he grinded back against Naruto. Shivers traveled through his body. He wanted more. He could _fucking finally_ touch the other. 

‘Please,’ he whispered. 

At that Naruto placed an arm around his hips, and then threw him onto the couch. Right away, he pushed Sasuke’s legs apart so they were around his hips, and leaned in for another kiss. He kissed Sasuke deeply, pushing him down in the process. Sasuke felt trapped, but safe. He grabbed Naruto’s hair and pulled him even closer. Naruto grinded their hard ons together, moaned against his lips. He shouldn’t have been surprised by that pressure, or about Naruto’s hard on, but he had never seen Naruto as someone who could be attracted to men. Him included. 

But here he was, obviously so damn full of lust, and that’s why it hit Sasuke; Naruto actually wanted him.

Naruto pulled him up by his hips, grinding them together again. Naruto stared at him intensely, as if he was trying to remember every move and sound he made. He couldn’t help but squirm underneath that gaze. He pulled on his own pants, trying to get rid of the fabric. 

‘Sasuke..’ Naruto breathed out. ‘Are you– in the right mindset for this?’ 

Sasuke stared back at his beautiful man. Of course Naruto was asking that. He shouldn’t have expected any different. 

‘I understand if you’re not. That’s totally–’ 

‘I’ve wanted you to fuck me since we were barely teenagers.’ It was out before he could stop it, but it sure as hell did the trick. Naruto shook his head, a dark blush and a grin on his face. ‘Fucking hell, you’re unbelievable,’ Naruto said before he leand down, unbuttoning Sasuke’s pants clumsily; as quick as time would allow him to. 

Sasuke kept pushing up at the feeling of Naruto’s hand against him. Naruto obviously had a hard time keeping his breath steady. He focussed on his own pants, pushing it down roughly and quickly. 

At that, he pushed Naruto away from him, and then slowly, he kissed Naruto’scrotch. Naruto grabbed his hair instantly, breathing out sharply. He looked up at Naruto, as he licked through the underwear, just because he fucking could. The underwear was slowly becoming wetter. Sasuke pushed his finger on the wet spot, rubbed Naruto’s precum into the fabric. ‘This is a mess,’ he breathed out, trying to sound light. ‘Let’s take this–’ He pushed Naruto’s underwear down. Naruto whimpered. _Fucking whimpered._ His penis was throbbing, thank fucking god. 

Sasuke hasisated one second, a second Naruto used to push his crotch up again. Sasuke gripped the blonde’s hip, then slowly took the tip of his cock into his mouth. Naruto gripped Sasuke’s hair tightly. He moaned hoardly. Sasuke licked the tip a few times, and then placed his lips around Naruto. He palmed his own cock, whimpering onto Naruto’s length at the touch. 

‘Touch yourself,’ Naruto whispered, stroking the hair he’d just pulled. The sound of Naruto’s voice alone made him want to cum. Instead he started touching himself. Naruto. He looked up at Naruto. Saw how Naruto watched his thick, red mouth. Then noticed how Naruto looked at his masturbating. ‘That’s it, you’re gorgeous.’ Naruto whispered. 

He bobbed his head up and down, licked Naruto’s length softly. ‘Sasu– ah–!’ He kissed Naruto’s tights, slipped his lips over his tip tightly. Naruto’s hard tightened around his hair, he pushed Sasuke onto himself little further, moaning out. Naruto was loud, he didn’t know what he had expected. Every single sound, every single touch, reminded him that _this was Naruto._ This was the man he’d loved for years and years. ‘Fuck– Sasuke..’ Naruto pulled his hair, pulled him off his cock, and kissed him deeply. Naruto was a goner too– licked into his mouth clumsily. He could feel himself edging. He loved everything about how Naruto held him. Naruto was as careful and rough at the same time, exactly how he had always been. He lead Sasuke back onto him. Sasuke buried his face into Naruto’s crotch, opening his mouth and taking him in completely. ‘Ah– fuck–’ Naruto clumsily pushed his hips up, grabbing onto Sasuke’s head to keep him in place. 

He felt so pinned down– He sucked Naruto even harder, could feel himself cuming on top of his hand. ‘Fuck– Sasuke–’ The way Naruto said his name sent shivers through himself. He moaned onto Naruto’s cock, tried to keep sucking. Naruto pulled his hair roughly, whispering ‘I’m cumimng– Fuck– Sas–’ Sasuke didn’t more away. He’d waited for this for what seemed like forever. He wanted everything. 

He felt Naruto cum into his mouth, while he was gripping onto him tightly. Naruto was hot in his mouth, he closed his eyes tightly, focussed on how Naruto was caressing his hair clumsily, breathing out heavily. Then, he swallowed, looked up at the other. 

Naruto stared at him as if he’d never seen anything like him. He brought his hands up to Sasuke’s cheek, smiled softly. ‘You’re so fucking beautiful.’ Sasuke could imagine what he looked like; properly fucked over. He could feel the cum on his cheeks, how thick his lips were, how ruffled his hair. ‘So– so fucking gorgeous.’ 

Naruto leaned down, kissed Sasuke’s lips softly. ‘I like you really like you.’ 

‘Idiot,’ Sasuke whispered. He felt like he wanted to cry just from hearing those words. 

Naruto laughed softly. ‘Let’s get you cleaned up.’ 

Naruto fell asleep right after cleaning them. He snored, with his mouth completely open. He looked satisfied, relaxed. Sasuke stared at him, he’d just gotten back from getting a glass of water, and suddenly everything felt surreal. He felt shivers shoot through his entire body, settle down in the belly. 

Naruto was really laying on his couch, half naked. Naruto was _here._

He walked up to the couch and sat down next to his lover. Slowly, he put one hand on the bright blonde hair, caressed it. Naruto let out a sleepy breath and leaned into the touch. 

Naruto had always been there, he realised. 

He could have gone back, at any given moment, and Naruto would have been there. 

Even if he hadn’t wanted him to be there, he would have pushed through that. Like he did this time. Naruto didn’t only _want_ what was good for him, he knew what was good for him too. 

‘Thank you..’ Sasuke whispered. Even though Naruto couldn’t hear it, maybe just because he couldn’t hear it. He just snored peacefully. 

A bit hesitant, Sasuke reached out to his own neck. He could still feel Naruto’s fingers caressing his neck, jaw, cheeks. He still felt where Naruto had pulled his hair. Now he reached for the necklace around his neck. He looked at the one that had been his mother’s, held it for a few seconds. Then he took the one that had been his, pulled it off. He had worn it for as long as he could remember. Not wearing it felt crazy to him now. He didn’t need two Uchiha necklaces, though; he needed a family. The necklaces had always meant just that; that they belonged together as a family. 

He sighed, held the symbol in front of his face. The red and white was so familiar, yet so cold now.

It was just him now. 

Carefully, he leaned down towards Naruto. He opened the necklace and hung it around Naruto’s neck. The necklace looked weird on Naruto. He had never seen the Uchiha symbol together with blonde locks, with tan skin. He had never seen the Uchiha symbol with snores, or grins, or cheesy jokes.

Maybe it was time for a change. He’d have to get used to it. 

He laid down next to Naruto. The other moaned sleepily and pulled him into his arms. closer. He was warm. 

He woke up to early morning mails from his boss, asking whether he was free to discuss his working hours, when he’d start again. He’d mailed back that he was available, just because he felt like he could own the world. If he wanted to change anything; it would have to be now. 

With nerves rushing through his body he made Naruto, who was still sleeping, a cup of coffee. Just to buy himself some more time, to allow himself to look at Naruto for a bit longer. 

‘Naruto, wake up.’ 

Naruto slowly opened his eyes. Stared at him as if he was surprised to see him. Or maybe he was just surprised to see him clothed, in a suit. They’d really been lazing around. _Resting,_ he had to tell himself. _They’d been resting._

Naruto reached out and grabbed his hand. His eyes traveled from his neck tie to the neat black shoes on his feet. ‘Where are you going?’ he asked carefully, sleepily. 

‘I’m going to work, for a bit.’ 

Quickly, Naruto got up. It was amazing that he didn’t get dizzy by doing so. ‘Let me make you breakfast first.. You– you need breakfast.’ 

He was trying to make him stay. Naruto was afraid he’d changed his mind; that he’d leave again. Not just this house, but Naruto’s love too. 

He didn’t know how to stop Naruto’s train of thoughts, as much as he wanted to.

‘I already had breakfast. I made you coffee.’ He nodded at the cup on the coffee table.

‘Oh-’ Naruto bit his lip, stopped in the middle of his tracks. ‘Would you sit down with me, for coffee then?’ 

‘I have an appointment with my boss, I can’t.’ 

‘Okay...’ 

Sasuke nodded before walking towards the door. He wondered if he could just kiss Naruto now. If he could pull Naruto into his arms and whisper soft things. He didn’t exactly feel capable. He was so fucking afraid. 

Naruto followed behind him, he looked tired. When he reached the door, Naruto stopped him by grabbing onto his wrist, then pushing him against the door softly. He looked a little desperate.

‘Do you regret what happened yesterday?’ he asked. 

The sex. The kisses. Loving him. Why the hell did Naruto think that had anything to do with him leaving for work? He had admitted to being in love, right? Hadn’t he been clear? 

‘What? No, of course not.’

‘But-’ 

‘Naruto. I’ve shown you that I want you, didn’t I?’

‘Of course-’ 

‘You don’t have to worry,’ he reached out to him, placed his hands against his neck. Then, slowly, he took the necklace that he had hung around his neck out of Naurot’s shirt. He stared at it, Naruto followed his gaze. He felt his heartbeat speed up; he had claimed Naruto while the other was sleeping. His hands shivered a little. 

Naruto’s eyes went wide eyed. 

‘We’re on each others side, right?’ Sasuke whispered. 

Naruto stared at him, trying to put two and two together. Then, quite suddenly, he pushed him against the door for a rough kiss. He still had morning breath and messy hair; Sasuke wanted him exactly like that. Every day. 

‘You gave this to me?’ Naruto mumbled against his lips. 

‘No santa did– of course I did, you idiot.’ 

Naruto chuckled. ‘You’re crazy.’ he said, while shaking his head. Then, softly, he kissed Sasuke again. ‘I love you.’

Sasuke placed his forehead against Naruto’s. _I love you_ . Naruto loved him. He hadn’t expected someone would. Not someone who actually knew him. Not someone who he loved back. His feelings got stuck in his throat. Naruto fucking _loved him._

‘You’ve shown me love,’ Naruto added. That was his way of saying: ‘ _it’s okay, take your time, I know already.’_

‘Kiss me,’ Sasuke said instead. Naruto did as he was told. He kissed him deeply against that damn door. He caressed his cheek, slipped soft pecks into the kiss. 

When they pulled back he was already out of breath. He inhaled deeply, wanting to say _fuck everything_ and stay in Naruto’s arms. Instead he said: ‘Work.’ 

Naruto let go of him, repeating the word absentmindedly. ‘Yeah.. work.’ 

He walked through the hallways quickly. All his colleagues stared, nodded, said a clear: ‘Good morning mister Uchiha.’ He nodded back, did nothing more than that. He glanced at his office and realised he had never even taken the time to put up a picture or get plants. He had never tried to make it his. He hadn’t even tried to connect with his colleagues. 

That was fine. 

He was done with this place.

He knocked on the door to his boss’ office, then stepped in. His boss looked up from his paperwork, took his reading glasses off casually. His boss was always casual like that. ‘Sasuke. Welcome back.’ 

‘Thank you. Please excuse my absence.’ 

His boss laughed lightly. ‘I was kind of glad. You’re usually quite bad at taking days off. Of course, you still had all your vacation days so it was no problem. ’ 

‘Thank you.’ 

‘No problem, it’s only logical. It must have been quite a shock.’ 

Finally, he felt like he could be honest about what it had meant to him. How much Itachi had meant. ‘Yes, it really was. A friend from highschool came to make sure I would be alright.’

‘A very smart move. You always work too hard’ His boss looked at him, nodded, and then asked: ‘Is that all?’ He knew damn well it wasn’t.

‘No. I– I wanted to talk about my options if I’d want to transfer to another branch.’ 

His boss looked up at him, a frown on his face. He wondered what he was thinking; Sasuke _was_ his best employee. ‘Sasuke, do you have anyone left here?’ 

He was taken back by his personal question. ‘No. No I don’t.’ 

‘And that high school friend?’ 

‘He’s from another city.’ 

Now his boss nodded, putting his reading glasses back on. ‘I’ll send you a list of all our branches and available positions. I won’t be happy about my best employee leaving, Uchiha, but I think you know what’s best for you.’ 

That day they went to eat noodles at a place one of his colleagues had once recommended. He took Naruto there, and he couldn’t stop smiling. It was a classic ramen shop. Simple with only a few seats. Naruto loved it, it reminded him of ichiraku. He had never been to the shop before. It was their last day together, before Naruto had to get back, so he wanted to go on a real date. 

He didn’t tell Naruto about the meeting with his boss; didn’t want to disappoint Naruto if it didn’t work out.

‘One Miso ramen with extra beef!’ 

‘The same for me, please.’ 

Naruto bumped his shoulder. ‘Wow, beautiful and an amazing taste in ramen?’ 

‘Are you complimenting your own taste in ramen?’ 

Naruto laughed. ‘I mean, have you ever met anyone with a superb ramen taste like mine?’ 

He looked at the water in front of him, smiled. `I've never met anyone like you, at all.’ 

Naruto, who had no sense of shame or personal space (or, someone who had learned not to give two fucks about those things) softly took his fingers in between his own. ‘I wish we could do this every day.’ 

It was hard to imagine that that could be their life. That wanting days like this was suddenly far from unrealistic. It was just a life, a happy one. One he would have never dared to dream of. The kind of life Itachi had definitely wanted for him. The kind of thing Itachi had wished would come from this last stunt of his.

But it was realistic; he just needed the gust to _take it._

Naruto knew that too, but he didn’t say it like that. 

‘I’ll come meet you.’ He said. _Don’t get his hopes up_ , he told himself. Maybe also a little so he couldn’t get his own hopes up. He had only asked what the options were, nothing more. ‘I’ll come over more often, and you can come meet me.’ 

‘I’m a little afraid, sometimes.’ 

‘Of what?’ 

Naruto shifted nervously, but didn’t let go of his hand. ‘That you’ll shut me out again, if I leave.’ 

That should have been more upsetting. He wished that he could tell Naruto that he was a fool for being afraid of something like that. But the truth was that had a point. He had every right for be afraid of that. _Hell,_ even Sasuke was afraid of shutting Naruto out again. He was afraid that he couldn’t do it without Naruto chasing him, always afraid of making the first move. ‘I’ll do everything I can, for you.’ he told Naruto. ‘But if I fall back– please come kick my door down again.’ 

Naruto stared at him. His bright blue eyes locked to his face. Naruto seemed to think of a thousand things to say, and didn't say anything. He was smiling though, maybe that was enough.

Before he could do anything more the restaurant owner put two bowls on our table, nodded, and said a quick: ‘Enjoy your meal.’ 

‘Oh– thank you!’ 

That evening they had kissed and had sex at every spot in the damn apartment. As if Naruto wanted to mark the place before leaving. As soon as they came home he kissed Sasuke against the door. Naruto whispered that he had wanted to do so all day. If it had been up to Naruto, he probably would have kissed him against some building, during dinner and in the middle of the street. What he had planned as a sweet kiss, soon turned into pulling off each other’s shirts, grinding against each other, licking each other's neck. His breath against his neck was incredibly warm, the front door was freezing. He shivered. Naruto bit his neck, whispered a desperate: ‘Can I touch you?’ Sasuke nodded, to which Naruto grabbed his ass, and then started fingering him painfully slowly. Sasuke desperately tried to hold onto something, but couldn't.

‘Let’s move,’ he mumbled. ‘I want to hold onto something.’ 

‘Alright..’ With that Naruto lifted him, which was completely unnecessary, and let him go right in front of the kitchen table. Then he kissed him, grinned some more and turned him around. With one, strong hand Naruto bent him until his upper body was laying on top of that table. ‘Do you like this?’ Naruto asked, leaning onto him. Sasuke moaned out something that sounded like a yes, and like that, Naruto fucked him. Roughly, warmly and with a thousand sweet words.

Sasuke could only think: if I’m leaving this cold place, I might as well have fucked the man of his dreams on the kitchen table. That was what it was like to live in that moment; he’d never felt as alive.

While cleaning all the sweat and cum off their bodies, they got into a playful discussion about Naruto not being gentle, which eventually made Naruto get down on his knees to suck his dick in the shower. He quickly became light in the head, tried to get a hold of Naruto’s hair, and Naruto– Naruto was way too gentle about it. 

With their hair still wet from the shower they climbed into his bed together, for the first time. They touched every bit of skin they could find, covered each other in small kisses. They fell in each other’s arms, still naked. Sasuke had never slept that well. 

Naruto left early in the morning. They had coffee at the kitchen table, their feet softly touching. Talking about nothing much. He drove Naruto to the train station. Naruto kissed him quickly before getting on the train, waved excitedly until he was out of sight. 

A few days later he got the mail from his boss. To his own surprise, his old hometown was one of the first on the list. He called his boss to discuss the matter. His boss was more excited than anything else; he recommended Sasuke to the other branche. They suggested that he’d get the managers position that was still open.

The entire time his heart was beating in his throat. This was really happening _._ He was really doing something to make himself so fucking happy, and the entire time he could think nothing but: _I want to tell Naruto._ He wanted to tell Naruto so damn bad.

A few minutes after getting the call from his boss, he called Naruto. His nerves were really getting the best of him. The beeping on the other side of the line was driving him completely insane.

 _What if this was too much?_ No. No this was Naruto they were talking about. 

‘Sasuke, hey!’ he sounded so fucking happy. 

‘Hi.’ 

‘How are you doing? How’s work?’ 

‘Fine..’ _How the hell was he going to tell Naruto this? What was the best way to put it into words?_

‘Good... I miss you a lot.’ Naruto chuckled. The sound of Naruto’s voice turned him upside down. ‘I hate being apart. I’m seriously considering stepping on a train right this second.’ 

‘Hold that off for me,’ Sasuke said.

Naruto was silent for a while. For a little too long.‘What? Sasuke, baby, what’s wrong?’ 

‘No. Eh– I was just thinking about coming to your place this time around.’

‘Oh, yeah. I’d like that.’ 

Sasuke fidgeted with his shirt. ‘Do you have some extra space in your apartment?’ 

Naruto chuckled. ‘You can sleep on my chest, no worries.’ 

Sasuke rolled his eyes, even though Naruto couldn’t see him. Naruto _knew._ ‘I meant– maybe for some of my stuff too. For like.. twelve plants. Why the hell did you get so many plants anyway? Who gets fifteen plants and then asks the other to move? You’re so-’

‘Sasuke– wait, back up.’ Naruto said, excitedly. ‘What do you mean? I don’t want to misunderstand. Do you want to drop off the plants or-’ 

‘No!’ _Fuck._ ‘I– I’ve been meaning to tell you but I requested to transfer, to another branch. To– well to the one back home. They’re hiring me.’ 

‘ _Holy fucking shit_.’ 

‘I’ll try to get my own place, of course. I just thought that maybe I could stay at your place during the trial. Then I can sell my place after. But I can’t leave all your plants to die so–’

‘Sasuke, that’s fucking great. Holyshit I-’ He stopped talking for a while. Sasuke heard his voice break. Naruto was holding back a cry. Of course he was. ‘You’re always welcome. My home is yours.’ Naruto was warm, he was warm, so fucking warm. ‘But I might come your way anyway. You know, I could rent a small bus and come help you pack some things. I’ve always wanted to drive a small bus.’

Sasuke chuckled. ‘You’re crazy.’

‘I know. I’ll always be crazy for you.'

‘Idiot.’ 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you!


End file.
